I Might Blush

Written by Tara Jill Ciccarone
Monday, 03 March 2008 08:12

 
Goregasm, a delightfully ambitious film produced by Terror Optics , opens to the somehow familiar scene of a dude jerking as a woman is fucked in the ass on the screen.  Instead of being alarmed at the sight of her son spanking the monkey, the teenager’s mother stoically warns him that the Cockface Killer will come and get him for his sexual deviance.

And so begins the saga of a New Orleans subculture tormented by a penis-masked killer who brandishes a dildo as a weapon as he seeks and destroys those indulging in any of 13 Filthy Fetishes that range from Voyeurism to Man Boy Love .  And a subculture it is; the victims in this film seem to exist only for the purpose of having or fantasizing about sex.
 
The plot centers around Filthy Frank’s, a dirty video store where horny dudes get off through “Pleasure Holes,” huge smiling girl faces painted on the wall, behind which various characters suck dick while Indi Pop blares in the background. The atmosphere of the video store is over-stimulating to say the least, complete with a couple who does not stop having sex in the store throughout the movie and a vagina portrait artist.  If the sight of a disfigured captive licking a turd happens to turn your stomach, be prepared to cover your eyes at times during the Pleasure Hole scenes.
 
The setting includes images that are quintessentially New Orleans, both traditionally and post-apocalypse, from the St. Charles Streetcar, to a FEMA trailer, to Bayou St. John, to a selection of MRE’s.  The film successfully balances that setting with the obscure and bizarre and does not take the easy way out by shoving New Orleans references down the viewers throat like, per say, an 18 inch cock.
 
As two different story lines develop, I couldn’t help but find the detective narrative more appealing as, much to the dismay of his female partner, a grief-stricken Detective Douglas Depschet indulges his own sexual fetishes at crime scenes.  The dialogue between the two borders on ridiculous and is bound to illicit laughter, especially when the investigators argue about the regularity of shit fetishes.  “Do you really think that it would be pleasant to jerk off with a piece of shit?  I mean, do you think it would feel good?” Depschet, an avid Rambo III fan who learned about shit fetishes at a community college, asks his partner.  When she answers no, he replies, “You stupid fucking twat, you would.”
 
For those of us who get off watching a guy get fucked in the ass by a corkscrew again and again and again, a second subplot concerning the CLAM - a gang of sexy, man-torturing heroines - will be more than satisfying as we become almost completely desensitized to the image. CLAM’s feministic leader seeks revenge on all men due to a year she spent overseas as a sexual slave, insinuating that women can overcome the role of the sex industry’s subservient victims. I can’t help but feel that I’ve seen the basic dynamic of this story-line somewhere before, but as the members of the CLAM help advance the plot, we see some of what seem to be (I admit I’m a bit out of my league here) original torture techniques as well as an explanation of motives that attempts to define domination.
 
Goregasm pays tribute to John Waters, but unlike films like Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, Goregasm captures moments that are actually sexy and can leave the viewer turned on more than Divine ever has.  This level of eroticism is made possible by the obviously real sex scenes and because the Cockface Killer is so constantly lurking in the background that halfway through the film, the viewer grows desensitized to his absurdly creepy dildo mask.
 
In fact, a real triumph of the piece is that some of the sex scenes manage to be downright hot, and the cinematography is smooth and professional. They did a superb job casting the female roles; the lack of boob jobs offers a welcome antidote to the mainstream porn that’s out there.
 
I applaud any film to which my first response is “Wow, these writers really thought of some fucked up shit” even if I usually mean that figuratively.  Obviously intended to be a Cult Classic, Goregasm is worth watching, although I hesitate to identify its appropriate audience.  The cast itself features an assortment of New Orleans Bywater characters, and it will be interesting to see who else its following will include.  Not recommended viewing for the more traditional first date, Goregasm is bound to illicit ex-boyfriend sex at the least, something which two hours of Breaking Bad cannot accomplish.
 
Jennifer Lamarque and Christie Duet do an excellent job with makeup, especially with the CLAM’s main victim, and the soundtrack, which includes songs like “Cockface Creep” performed by The Bills and “Beat Up by a Girl” by King Louie to name a few, is brilliantly executed. Be sure to watch the deleted scenes, especially #3 “Fart in a Cup.” As far as casting goes, viewers will wish the Hooker Princess played by Claire Gillis had a larger role.

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